Melissa A. Wojtylak

Counsel

Education

  • Villanova University School of Law, 1996, J.D.
  • Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 1993, B.S., Management

Professional Admissions / Qualifications

  • Pennsylvania
  • New Jersey

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • State Supreme Court - Pennsylvania
  • State Supreme Court - New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court - District of New Jersey

Melissa advises and represents clients from various industries.  Her recent experience includes representing multi-national pharmaceutical companies in both commercial litigation and product liability matters, and representing financial industry clients in consumer protection matters involving claims brought under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and other federal and state laws.  She has tried multiple cases to verdict in state and federal court, in addition to participating in arbitration and mediation proceedings.

Melissa also counsels the firm's clients in class actions, assisting these clients in obtaining court approval of settlements, providing notice to the class and implementing settlement benefits, as well as overseeing opt-out litigation in multiple jurisdictions and managing and guiding the clients' counsel in these jurisdictions.

In 2008-2009, Melissa spent seven months on loan to an international pharmaceutical company client, where she functioned as one of the company's in-house attorneys, overseeing multiple litigation matters and advising business units and company management on potential litigation and other risks.

In both 2005 and 2006, Melissa was named a "Rising Star" by Law & Politics' Super Lawyers. In 2008, she was named a "Lawyer on the Fast Track" by American Lawyer Media.  She is a co-author of the Drug and Device Law Blog, an ABA Journal Top 100 Blawg.

Employment History

  • 2005 - Reed Smith

Professional Affiliations

  • Director, Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia (2008-2012)
  • Former Vice-Chair of the Medicine & Law Committee of the ABA's Tort Trial and Insurance Practice section
  • Served as course planner and program editor for the ABA program "The Future of Class Action Litigation in America," presented October 2-3, 2003, Boston, MA
  • Pennsylvania Bar Association